ERIC Number: EJ1090200
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 4
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0260-7476
EISSN: N/A
Changes in Teachers' Beliefs after a Professional Development Project for Teaching Writing: Two Chinese Cases
Teng, Lin Sophie
Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, v42 n1 p106-109 2016
A plethora of research has found that teachers' beliefs directly influence their classroom practices and teaching outcomes. While numerous studies in second/foreign language writing have examined the effectiveness of different innovative approaches on students' learning to write, there is a paucity of research on writing teachers' beliefs about these approaches and how their beliefs change in the process of their professional development. Such a lacuna becomes prominent in English as a Foreign Language contexts, especially in China, where there are numerous calls for changing the nature of classroom practices from product-focused to process- and student-centred instruction. In order to fill this gap, this brief article reports on a case study regarding changes in two Chinese English teachers' beliefs after attending a professional development project for teaching writing. A key research question guides this study: "What changes, if any, did the two teachers experience in their teaching beliefs during the project?" Two writing teachers were voluntarily recruited for a case study. Findings show that the professional development project for teaching writing broadened the teachers' understanding of different writing theories, provided a clear model of how to integrate these new approaches into regular writing courses, changed their instructional focus and shifted their perception of teachers' roles in teaching practice.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Beliefs, Teacher Attitudes, Faculty Development, Writing Instruction, Educational Practices, Case Studies, English (Second Language), English Teachers, Teaching Experience, Attitude Change, Semi Structured Interviews, Educational Theories, Writing Strategies, Teacher Role, College Faculty, Second Language Instruction
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A